Vendee Globe Race 2016/17

Thursday, 1st of december 2016Landmark footage of solo sailors in Southern Ocean released

Unprecedented footage of the Vendée Globe frontrunners smashing through the Southern Ocean has been captured on camera for the first time in the solo round the world yacht race's 27-year history. The stunning images of French sailor Armel Le Cléac'h and Brit Alex Thomson as they passed the Kerguelen Islands deep in the southern Indian Ocean were filmed by French television station TF1.

The broadcasters were filming from a French navy helicopter that had taken off from the frigate Nivôse which is patrolling French territories in the Southern Ocean. The rights-free footage, available to download from the Vendée Globe media server, shows race leader Le Cléac'h on his boat Banque Populaire VIII and second-placed Thomson on Hugo Boss blasting along at speeds of more than 20 knots in winds of between 25 and 30 knots.

Begegnung bei Kerguelen Isl.
Foto:

The Kerguelens are an archipelago of more than 300 islands that form one of the most remote places on the planet  Africa lies 2,000 miles to the west, Australia is 2,000 miles to the east and Antarctica is 1,000 miles to the south. It is the first time since the Vendée Globe began in 1989 that competitors have been filmed racing so far south. It was made possible thanks to the work of the French navy, TF1 and the Vendée Globe's race directors.